AMA retains support of mandated health insurance

Policymaking group strongly rejects effort to overturn backing

June 20, 2011|By Bruce Japsen, Tribune reporter

The American Medical Association will continue to support a key tenet of the health care law that requires Americans to buy health insurance.

By a 2-1 ratio, the AMA's policymaking House of Delegates voted Monday to continue to back the so-called individual mandate. The action rejects efforts by dissident groups within the nation's largest doctors organization to withdraw backing of the mandate, a controversial part of legislation President Barack Obama signed into law in March 2010. The AMA's support was seen as critical at the time the proposal was being debated.

The results of the vote were 326 in favor and 165 opposed. Without an individual mandate, supporters said, people would wait to buy health insurance until they are sick, and that would lead to a spike in premiums for all.

The debate comes after the filing of federal lawsuits by several attorneys general challenging the individual mandate. The bill's challengers claim that the requirement is unconstitutional and exceeds Congress' power to regulate commerce. Legal analysts expect the challenge to be settled by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Supporters of the mandate have argued that a "guarantee-issue model" of insurance would provide insurers with a larger risk pool to pay claims, which helps them turn a profit and provide benefits and services to more people.

"Kids who have insurance … age to be healthier adults," said Dr. Melissa Garretson, a physician representing the American Academy of Pediatrics and a key supporter of the individual mandate.